My fate at MMN/Blue-Bomber
Feb. 1st, 2007 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lbd_nytetrayn*thunder cracks*
"Much has changed since the last Mortal Kombat tournament..."
Wait, wrong intro. But perhaps no less appropriately confusing.
So. Where to begin.
I guess one place to start is to say that this is the end of an era. For me, at any rate.
I'd been with The Mega Man Network, over various names and owners, since around 2001, 2002. Not too long after I got married, anyway. And now, it seems that site's fate has been sealed, thanks to real-life and other things getting in the way, and carrying on in its stead is the currently-dormant Blue-Bomber.net.
Blue-Bomber.net, or BB as I shall refer to it from here on out, began on November 16, near as I can tell. At least in terms of a forum, I'm sure Tim and its top dog, Jaxel, had discussed it prior. And on November 24th, Jaxel named me "Public Relations Management, News," later under Assistant Site Admin Colonel Forte.
And on December 8th, someone actually bothered to tell me this thing existed.
So, yeah. Kind of a bumpy start there, I'd say. But at least according to Tim's stipulation, some people, like himself and me, couldn't be "fired," such as it is.
I'll be honest, besides that bit of strangeness, there have been things I haven't agreed with from the start.
One thing was cherry-picking coverage. Classic, X, Zero, and Legends. I can understand maybe avoiding Battle Network and Star Force, being a seperate timeline and largely irrelevant to the "Blue Bomber" timeline established with Classic, but to want to ditch ZX? Even after using the MMN frontpage to pan Capcom's latest, it would still seem to me that it's worth noting and keeping tabs on, for the sake of the overall continuity and the site's integrity.
(I'm not saying that ZX was the greatest piece of gaming, but by acknowledging X7, it'd already done worse)
What's that leave us with? 4 dead/finished series. There was also the note that no other series Capcom "spits out" would be covered.
Which I guess is fine and dandy. At least when the dead start to roam the Earth again, we won't be preoccupied by anything else.
After a prolonged absence of around two months, Jaxel axed Ageman, Quickman, and Rodrigo Shin. While I can sort of understand that, to a point, I'd say December and January are probably the most excusable months of the year to not hear anything from someone. Though I'd say that looking back, maybe they just had a better idea of things to come.
A couple of days later, I'm in #megaman-network, and the topic of Legends comes up, and one thing leads to another, and I decide since I had my year-old Legends proposal laying around and collecting dust, I might as well share my vision. And it certainly spread a lot faster than I'd imagined, and now seems to have died out just as quickly (I do wish Kotaku or Joystiq or someone would've picked up on it).
And, I made an honest mistake, and I admit it. The thing was old and irrelevant, and I wasn't thinking anything of posting it, despite the fact that the part which involved Jaxel was supposed to be "top secret, confidential," unless you pay five bucks to hear it on the VIP boards.
"A lot" of confidential info, apparently. While I admit the initial inclusion of the name of a Capcom rep should have been thought through more clearly on my part, there wasn't really a lot else there of substance. Shitty DASH ports on PSP didn't sell in Japan?! NO! Really? Are you sure? Can we double-check our sources? There clearly must be some mistake!
A petition or some-such might be a good way to gauge interest for a sequel?! You don't say! I never would have thought of that!
Hell, even I know that the mere mention of a petition on the internet these days is enough to make people disregard your idea entirely... and mine WORKED, dammit.
So Jaxel messages me the next day like his tail's caught on fire, wanting to know what's up. I fix the mistake parts of my post, and things seem to be ok after that, and he tells me about what's confidential and everything. The ironic part being that before I made the post, I tried to go over the original posts, but I found out that wasn't happening, and there wasn't any attempt to move any of this old info over to the new place, either.
Of course, he's told me "thousands" of times for over a hundred years that this wouldn't work, etc. etc., and pretty much tries to cut off any effort I tried to ignite of getting fans to at least show support and appreciation for the series.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jaxel, Emperor of Exaggeration.
Evidently, it seems that it is the belief that Capcom is the one company who doesn't want to hear from its customers nor see appreciation for their work, and rather than hear what you want, they'll just tell you what to buy.
It's certainly a more unique take on business in America, I have to admit. The Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics can take a day a week to talk to readers, producer Don Murphy of TransFormers the movie and other stuff has his forums he speaks out on, and what do we get from Capcom? Droplets of news that isn't news to Jaxel, that can't be shared except to staff and VIP, and really goes nowhere until after announcements are made public.
It's funny, I've been there with Jazwares. You think you've got something, but in the end, it's not as much as you thought. I was pretty much on the inside of so much for so long, even helping out with things, but when it came to info, it pretty much had to stop with me. And I kept to it, too. None of this "staff only" or "VIP" crap. I can keep a secret.
It just so happens that this time, I slipped up. I admit it, we discussed it, I fixed the problem areas, and when we parted for the night, everything seemed alright. We parted with me showing him the first pic of the Star Wars TransFormer for the Death Star.
Next day, I'm gathering some info for a resume', and happen over by the Blue-Bomber.net forums to try and get what my exact position title was ("Public Relations Management" doesn't sound too bad on a resume', I'm sure), when I see the Staff Forum is gone.
As it turns out, the forum wasn't gone. I was.
I PM'd Jaxel. Evidently, some Capcom employees had seen my post over the weekend. See? It isn't impossible to get something through to them.
Of course, I evidently tend to "bother" Capcom about stuff enough that I didn't warrant full details about this. That's what I do with all my problems, I go whine to them about anything that goes wrong in my life... Oh, wait, I almost never even talk to them. Silly me.
One was the guy who told Jaxel about ZX2, or "Advent." Capcom had been very generous in sharing info with us, I'm told, which basically amounted to Jaxel saying "yeah" when other sites reported that there was a logo floating about now.
And with that, I get shitcanned. Axed. Fired. All since Capcom knows about it, and "damage control" was deemed necessary, which apparently consists of removing all my powers without telling me about it, and holding tribunal in a forum where I can't defend myself. So much for Tim's stipulation, huh? But then, "he's not exactly a staff member anymore." Great way of keeping the trust there.
This was on Monday. That night, he also slipped into the IRC channel just long enough to remove my ops and be gone.
Today, I've had my status reinstated, and was told such by the likes of Maverick-jin8 and Sarge.
So. Through all that, and now I'm welcomed back with open arms, even though I've got it on good authority that the initial reaction from people in the tribunal was "kick his ass out" before having "mercy."
But now things can continue as normal. Except they won't.
Because I decline.
If this is what I need to worry about, if I have to feel like I have to look over my shoulder because Jaxel might want rid of me for some other reason or mistake at the drop of a hat, if I can't even get any of it face to face or a chance to speak on my own behalf, and if I'm that easily dismissed save for some friends speaking on my behalf...
I don't need it.
A few years ago, I might have taken it. But things have changed. I don't think I need MMN, or its half-breed offspring, as a means of establishing an identity, a sense of self, on the internet. I have PMO, I have every other big Mega Man site in this hemisphere, and I have my friends. And I want to thank those who did stand by me in all of this, where I was unable to stand for myself. It is appreciated.
I should say that trust is a big factor in this. Jaxel says I broke his trust? I made a mistake, I admit it. But at least I can come out and admit it to the world, and speak for myself without any of this cloak-and-dagger bullshit and secrecy which he's hid behind this week.
The internet is a strange place. The Mega Man Network holds a lot of fond memories for me, and a special place, as does Mega Man himself. My focus may not be as direct on him as it has been in the past, but Mega Man is always going to be a part of me and who I am. And if The Mega Man Network should rise from the ashes, I will be there.
As for Blue-Bomber.net?
--LBD "Nytetrayn"
"Much has changed since the last Mortal Kombat tournament..."
Wait, wrong intro. But perhaps no less appropriately confusing.
So. Where to begin.
I guess one place to start is to say that this is the end of an era. For me, at any rate.
I'd been with The Mega Man Network, over various names and owners, since around 2001, 2002. Not too long after I got married, anyway. And now, it seems that site's fate has been sealed, thanks to real-life and other things getting in the way, and carrying on in its stead is the currently-dormant Blue-Bomber.net.
Blue-Bomber.net, or BB as I shall refer to it from here on out, began on November 16, near as I can tell. At least in terms of a forum, I'm sure Tim and its top dog, Jaxel, had discussed it prior. And on November 24th, Jaxel named me "Public Relations Management, News," later under Assistant Site Admin Colonel Forte.
And on December 8th, someone actually bothered to tell me this thing existed.
So, yeah. Kind of a bumpy start there, I'd say. But at least according to Tim's stipulation, some people, like himself and me, couldn't be "fired," such as it is.
I'll be honest, besides that bit of strangeness, there have been things I haven't agreed with from the start.
One thing was cherry-picking coverage. Classic, X, Zero, and Legends. I can understand maybe avoiding Battle Network and Star Force, being a seperate timeline and largely irrelevant to the "Blue Bomber" timeline established with Classic, but to want to ditch ZX? Even after using the MMN frontpage to pan Capcom's latest, it would still seem to me that it's worth noting and keeping tabs on, for the sake of the overall continuity and the site's integrity.
(I'm not saying that ZX was the greatest piece of gaming, but by acknowledging X7, it'd already done worse)
What's that leave us with? 4 dead/finished series. There was also the note that no other series Capcom "spits out" would be covered.
Which I guess is fine and dandy. At least when the dead start to roam the Earth again, we won't be preoccupied by anything else.
After a prolonged absence of around two months, Jaxel axed Ageman, Quickman, and Rodrigo Shin. While I can sort of understand that, to a point, I'd say December and January are probably the most excusable months of the year to not hear anything from someone. Though I'd say that looking back, maybe they just had a better idea of things to come.
A couple of days later, I'm in #megaman-network, and the topic of Legends comes up, and one thing leads to another, and I decide since I had my year-old Legends proposal laying around and collecting dust, I might as well share my vision. And it certainly spread a lot faster than I'd imagined, and now seems to have died out just as quickly (I do wish Kotaku or Joystiq or someone would've picked up on it).
And, I made an honest mistake, and I admit it. The thing was old and irrelevant, and I wasn't thinking anything of posting it, despite the fact that the part which involved Jaxel was supposed to be "top secret, confidential," unless you pay five bucks to hear it on the VIP boards.
"A lot" of confidential info, apparently. While I admit the initial inclusion of the name of a Capcom rep should have been thought through more clearly on my part, there wasn't really a lot else there of substance. Shitty DASH ports on PSP didn't sell in Japan?! NO! Really? Are you sure? Can we double-check our sources? There clearly must be some mistake!
A petition or some-such might be a good way to gauge interest for a sequel?! You don't say! I never would have thought of that!
Hell, even I know that the mere mention of a petition on the internet these days is enough to make people disregard your idea entirely... and mine WORKED, dammit.
So Jaxel messages me the next day like his tail's caught on fire, wanting to know what's up. I fix the mistake parts of my post, and things seem to be ok after that, and he tells me about what's confidential and everything. The ironic part being that before I made the post, I tried to go over the original posts, but I found out that wasn't happening, and there wasn't any attempt to move any of this old info over to the new place, either.
Of course, he's told me "thousands" of times for over a hundred years that this wouldn't work, etc. etc., and pretty much tries to cut off any effort I tried to ignite of getting fans to at least show support and appreciation for the series.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jaxel, Emperor of Exaggeration.
Evidently, it seems that it is the belief that Capcom is the one company who doesn't want to hear from its customers nor see appreciation for their work, and rather than hear what you want, they'll just tell you what to buy.
It's certainly a more unique take on business in America, I have to admit. The Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics can take a day a week to talk to readers, producer Don Murphy of TransFormers the movie and other stuff has his forums he speaks out on, and what do we get from Capcom? Droplets of news that isn't news to Jaxel, that can't be shared except to staff and VIP, and really goes nowhere until after announcements are made public.
It's funny, I've been there with Jazwares. You think you've got something, but in the end, it's not as much as you thought. I was pretty much on the inside of so much for so long, even helping out with things, but when it came to info, it pretty much had to stop with me. And I kept to it, too. None of this "staff only" or "VIP" crap. I can keep a secret.
It just so happens that this time, I slipped up. I admit it, we discussed it, I fixed the problem areas, and when we parted for the night, everything seemed alright. We parted with me showing him the first pic of the Star Wars TransFormer for the Death Star.
Next day, I'm gathering some info for a resume', and happen over by the Blue-Bomber.net forums to try and get what my exact position title was ("Public Relations Management" doesn't sound too bad on a resume', I'm sure), when I see the Staff Forum is gone.
As it turns out, the forum wasn't gone. I was.
I PM'd Jaxel. Evidently, some Capcom employees had seen my post over the weekend. See? It isn't impossible to get something through to them.
Of course, I evidently tend to "bother" Capcom about stuff enough that I didn't warrant full details about this. That's what I do with all my problems, I go whine to them about anything that goes wrong in my life... Oh, wait, I almost never even talk to them. Silly me.
One was the guy who told Jaxel about ZX2, or "Advent." Capcom had been very generous in sharing info with us, I'm told, which basically amounted to Jaxel saying "yeah" when other sites reported that there was a logo floating about now.
And with that, I get shitcanned. Axed. Fired. All since Capcom knows about it, and "damage control" was deemed necessary, which apparently consists of removing all my powers without telling me about it, and holding tribunal in a forum where I can't defend myself. So much for Tim's stipulation, huh? But then, "he's not exactly a staff member anymore." Great way of keeping the trust there.
This was on Monday. That night, he also slipped into the IRC channel just long enough to remove my ops and be gone.
Today, I've had my status reinstated, and was told such by the likes of Maverick-jin8 and Sarge.
So. Through all that, and now I'm welcomed back with open arms, even though I've got it on good authority that the initial reaction from people in the tribunal was "kick his ass out" before having "mercy."
But now things can continue as normal. Except they won't.
Because I decline.
If this is what I need to worry about, if I have to feel like I have to look over my shoulder because Jaxel might want rid of me for some other reason or mistake at the drop of a hat, if I can't even get any of it face to face or a chance to speak on my own behalf, and if I'm that easily dismissed save for some friends speaking on my behalf...
I don't need it.
A few years ago, I might have taken it. But things have changed. I don't think I need MMN, or its half-breed offspring, as a means of establishing an identity, a sense of self, on the internet. I have PMO, I have every other big Mega Man site in this hemisphere, and I have my friends. And I want to thank those who did stand by me in all of this, where I was unable to stand for myself. It is appreciated.
I should say that trust is a big factor in this. Jaxel says I broke his trust? I made a mistake, I admit it. But at least I can come out and admit it to the world, and speak for myself without any of this cloak-and-dagger bullshit and secrecy which he's hid behind this week.
The internet is a strange place. The Mega Man Network holds a lot of fond memories for me, and a special place, as does Mega Man himself. My focus may not be as direct on him as it has been in the past, but Mega Man is always going to be a part of me and who I am. And if The Mega Man Network should rise from the ashes, I will be there.
As for Blue-Bomber.net?
--LBD "Nytetrayn"
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 06:12 am (UTC)Also your picture is filled with awesome. Made me laugh.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 06:25 am (UTC)--LBD "Nytetrayn"
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 07:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 07:31 am (UTC)Yeah. Who needs BB.net?
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 08:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 09:01 pm (UTC)--LBD "Nytetrayn"
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 05:08 pm (UTC)What bothers me most about Blue-Bomber is that it's moreso an organization of friends. With MMN, it was that to a degree, but we still had fun with it.
I dunno. Something irks me about Blue-Bomber as well, but I can't pinpoint the exact bit. Keep working on PMO, though, as I've actually found myself reading it daily. Thumbs up.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 07:12 pm (UTC)--LBD "Nytetrayn"
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 05:42 pm (UTC)Talk about adjective abuse. It's like the kind of shit you'd reserve for Osama bin Laden or Hitler. Goes to show where Leader One's mind is. No, you really don't need Blue Bomber. If you're going to work for the ego-obsessed, you may as well find a job and get paid for it.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 07:19 pm (UTC)--LBD "Nytetrayn"
no subject
Date: 2007-02-03 12:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-03 01:36 am (UTC)with me.
I left the BB.net forum myself after about a week or two of membership. It really just seems like a watered down MMN where modship is handed out like candy and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere, no offense to anyone of course, thats my opinion though. I'm sure you knew how I felt about the place when I came in the channel one evening, "This is the end of something great, man, we're a dying breed"<--- I remember saying something to that effect but with 100% more drunk.
I'm glad to see you sticking around #mmn though, I've made many friends throughout my stay at the forums for all these years. I've got a list a mile long and its good to see we can still chat like old times.
P.S.> PMO looks great, I wish you tons of success with it in the future, if I haven't said so yet. I check it out daily. Also, be a gentelman and let Red know I thought her article about gamers who play with disabilities was fantastic, I'd tell her myself but I can't do anonymous posts on her LJ if I'm correct. Thanks.
-Z
no subject
Date: 2007-02-03 05:24 pm (UTC)--LBD "Nytetrayn"
no subject
Date: 2007-02-05 06:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-03 03:58 pm (UTC)If you want to damn me because of what someone else wants for the site, go ahead. I don't blame you. None of us agreed with what Jaxel was doing, save two other staff members. I don't want everyone to think that every single one of the people on staff are heartless and ignorant dumbasses that have no idea what they're doing.
You want to blame someone for something? Blame JAXEL. HE is the one that got rid of the Mega Man Network Community (forum) and scared away some of its dedicated members. HE insisted on doing things certain ways, and only took our opinions to say "Yeah, my idea is better."
I'm just sick and tired of being blamed for things we have had no control over. That's my piece, I guess. Take it as you will. And sorry for the trouble this has caused you, BD, really. It was unneed e-drama, and just pure bullshit on Jaxel's account.
|GX
no subject
Date: 2007-02-03 05:22 pm (UTC)Just for the record, I wasn't really blaming the staff, I couldn't exactly keep tabs on who said what, except for the obvious Jaxel stuff. ;P
--LBD "Nytetrayn"
no subject
Date: 2007-02-04 06:49 pm (UTC)Okay, apologies if I'm a late comer to this discussion but... dude... destroying the MMN forums? What the hell was this guy thinking? That was the ONLY thing MMN had going for it after Reeve and the others left.
I don't care how much shit a forum gives you. You don't just shut down a large community like that. You pass it off to someone who wants to take control of it.
And then redirecting everyone to a bunch of forums he set up on some other host? How weak. Reading how he deals with people he is annoyed with ("I'm reporting you to the Georgia authorities because I can!"), what a baby.
I swear, if I had have the mind, I wou...
no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 03:27 am (UTC)